The Net Promoter Score, or NPS®, is based on the fundamental perspective that every company's customers can be divided into three categories: Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.

By asking one simple question, How likely is it that you would recommend [your company] to a friend or colleague?, you can track these groups and get a clear measure of your company's performance through your customers' eyes. Customers respond on a 0-to-10 point rating scale and are categorized as follows:

The Net Promoter Score: How I See It

The way I see it, the NPS tells you how you big of fans your clients are of you.

I like to picture the NPS categories sitting together on the couch watching a basketball game (your company/agency being the basketball game). Your Promoter is very into the game, having the best time of his life. He's got his fists clenched, rooting for your victory. Miss Passive is there in the middle. She's having a good time, but if the opportunity arose to go meet the girls for drinks, she would probably ditch. And then there's your Detractor on the end. He's not having a good time at all and he's not afraid to show it. However, the most important thing you should realize about Detractors is that they're still doing business with you. You need to make it a priority to chat with them and find out why they are unhappy with you before they start to spread the word about their unhappiness.

So, how do you ask your customers the question?

How do you ask your clients how likely they are to refer you? Most companies send out one email (hey, we can automate that email for you to make life easier) that asks this question, and they organize the data from there. For insurance agents, this information from your clients is huge. You'll know who is most likely to refer you to others, and you'll also learn who maybe needs more attention. All in all, the NPS great way to get a handle on how your company or agency is doing.

What do you do with this score?

What you do with it is up to you. However, you would be smart to use this information to reach out to those clients who are falling towards Detractors. You would also be smart to reach out to your Promoters and kindly ask for a referral.

Rocket Referrals is a company that helps insurance agents or agencies send out these NPS surveys and then use the results to gain referrals. You can certainly try the task by yourself; it probably works best to do it this way only if you have a smaller number of clients. However, it can get more time consuming and tricky as your client base grows. Sharing from personal experience, Rocket Referrals handles sending out the NPS to your clients, tracking the results and providing insight seamlessly. They'll also help you handle the next steps of asking for referrals from your promoters.

To put it simply, the NPS is a great place to start if you're looking to strengthen your relationships with your clients (and you should be!). The NPS will help you figure out who needs attention immediately and who will be likely to pass more clients your way.

Want to learn more about the NPS?

Check out this webinar we did with Rocket Referrals discussing how you can use the NPS survey results to improve communication with your clients.

Kelsey is the Marketing Brand Specialist at AgencyBloc. She plans and creates educational resources to help our customers organize, automate & grow their insurance agency. Favorite quote: "I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it." —Charles R. Swindoll
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